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There has been a trend developing recently in the indie game world. A lot of people have been giving certain developers flak for what they view as ‘being uncreative’, and making games with a similar style to countless other recent games. For starters, recently there have been a lot of ‘silhouette’ games, in terms of graphical presentation, and many players view this art direction as a sign of a lazy developer, particularly given how popular the style is becoming in some recent indie titles. This ‘oversimplification’ applies not just to the visual presentation of some of these games, but also to the user interface, game play, and various other elements of the game. However, some of these games are completely, utterly unique in many ways, and are often viewed as a cross between game and art. Let’s take a look at a couple from European developers Boss Baddie.

What qualifies as “story” in video games runs a wide gamut. In many games, the entire story can be summarized with something along the lines of “Bad Guy is doing Bad Things – go thwack him repeatedly until he stops.” Some games like Limbo eschew traditional story altogether, and try to flesh out their narratives through atmosphere and visual/auditory cues. Others, like Skyrim, infuse their world with so much backstory and text that whole libraries couldn’t contain the number of unique books and stories told in their worlds.

Ninjas, eh? Good thing I wore my Ninja punching gloves today.

Mass Effect 3 is blazing new trails in terms of story. It takes significant risks, and flies in the face of the way some people play games. However, it largely succeeds in telling a story whose scope and impact are far beyond almost anything we’ve seen in gaming to date.

BioWare recently released the third installment in the Mass Effect series. Mass Effect 3 continues the battle against the prehistoric alien race- Reapers – who are destroying Earth and the Galaxy as we know it. Deeply engaging action, story and an immersive experience make this game one of the most anticipated releases this season. To celebrate, we’re giving away some awesome ME 3 and gaming gear for new and seasoned users of Gaming Stack Exchange who complete a series of missions on the site.

These missions are designed to assist you in resolving questions that arise as you battle back the Reapers and defend the galaxy while also helping build a high quality resource for Mass Effect 3 players across the galaxy.

All users who embark on missions on Gaming Stack Exchange will be featured on the mission board. For details on missions, prizes and rules visit Mission Control!

Before playing the demo, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning wasn’t really even a blip on my radar. It’s a weird post-holiday-season RPG from EA that is dropping two months after the most anticipated RPG game of last year – Skyrim. I really enjoyed Skyrim, but I was intrigued by the prospect of a new fantasy RPG series that dared to emerge so close in the wake of Skyrim. I wasn’t really expecting something totally new and fresh, so I was pleasantly surprised with what I ended up getting.

Kingdoms of Amalur is, in my eyes, an RPG-lite. It’s the well-rounded love child of Skyrim and Darksiders. It’s Exactly-What-It-Says-On-The-Tin, no more, and no less.
Amalur, is an RPG targeted for consoles. That means less exploration, and more combat than Skyrim, and beyond that, a faster pace and more loot than the traditional RPG.

Before playing the demo, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning wasn’t really even a blip on my radar. It’s a weird post-holiday-season release from EA that is dropping a month before the real anticipated EA release of the first half of the year – Mass Effect 3. I’m really looking forward to ME3, but I was intrigued by the prospect of a new fantasy RPG series from a major publisher. I was really looking forward to something new and fresh, but I wasn’t really expecting what I ended up getting.

Have you ever bitten into a raw potato? If you ever have, perhaps you can understand what I mean when I say this game is dense, and at the same time painfully bland.

In honor of the release of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, we’re holding a contest.

To enter, ask or answer questions related to Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning as you play the game. Anything tagged kingdoms-amalur-reckoning is eligible for this contest.

Prizes:

There will be two winners: the person who (1) asks the most viewed question and (2) the person who gives the answer with the highest score. Each of these people will receive either a Cohesion XP 11.2 Gaming Chair Ottoman with Wireless Audio or a PS Vita (whichever they prefer).

Everyone is eligible to participate regardless of geographic location. If you live in an area of the world where it is too difficult for us to ship you your prize, we’ll figure something else out on a case by case basis.

The only metrics we’re using to determine winners views and votes. So ask as many good questions and give as many good answers as you can, and share them using whatever means you see fit. Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Google Plus, whatever works for you.

Dates: The contest begins Tuesday February 7th at 12:01 am and goes until Friday, February 17th at 11:59 pm (UTC). Only questions and answers posted within that time period will count towards this contest.